After breakfast we went upstairs to book a couple of tours. Once the tours were booked we set off to begin our adventures.
We hopped on the subway and headed to the JR train station. We got on the wrong train, so it took longer than expected, typical. But we are flexible. We decided to change our plan, on to eating again.
We ate at a cute Italian style restaurant, we all had Pizza. Then it was time to catch our first tour. First we had to find New Miyako Hotel. We could see it from the train station, but we had trouble finding it. It was a race against the clock, we had 3 mins to make it. As we are hustling through the train terminal, we all got separated. We are all running around looking, finally I called Bill. He was at one end of the train station, I was at the other end of the train station and I done know where Mike an Laurie are at this time. We are just hoping to your has not left us. Finally I turn around, look across the street and see the hotel, the light turns, I run across the street and guess who I find...Mike. Laurie is talking to the bus guide, Mike is calling Bill, but Bill is on the phone with me. I told Bill to cross the street and run. Only he doesn't know what direction. They held the bus for us, Bill ran up, we got on and sat down. We were about 15 mins late. Thank goodness they held it for us and we never gave up trying to find the hotel. Luck was on our side.
We boarded the bus and headed out one hour out of the city to Nara to see a couple of temples.
First we stopped at the Tenji Temple. The most interesting part was to watch the tame deer. They were not afraid of people. The temple is 300 yrs old. It has been reconstructed 3 times. Inside it has the largest Japanese Buddha. The Buddha is made out of bronze. This temple was very beautiful. It had many modern buildings., but the grounds were beautiful.
Next we drove a short way to the hill to another Shinto shrine. This one had 2000 pagoda lanterns. Twice a year the light them. This shrine was more shut off because the monks live and practice there. Afterwards we went to a souvenir shop. Then back on the bus for an hour ride/nap back to Kyoto Station.
Next we got back on the subway to Fushimi Inari Shrine. This was a must on my list of to dos. I must give all the Morrison's kuddos! We tromped through a heavy down pour. But I got to see the orange Torii gates!
Now that we are thoroughly waterlogged, we are headed back to Kyoto. We are getting a hot bowl of noodles and then headed back to the hotel in Osaka.
No comments:
Post a Comment